Head coach Bruce Arians sits down for the Ira Kaufman Podcast and yes, there are juicy nuggets. The Sage of Tampa Bay sports, Hall of Fame voter Ira Kaufman, is the main man on the twice-weekly podcast presented by Ed Morse Cadillac Tampa and Ed Morse Cadillac Brandon. Shop great June offers online offers while you listen.

I wish you all would do a little more research before your shows or articles. Don’t get me wrong, you are above average, but some statements, like “Hargreaves might not make the team”. He is garaunteed this year’s salary. He isn’t going anywhere this year. Unless he is so bad, he is the 7th CB on the roster. Ever hear of a trade? Every hear of cutting a guy to make a statement? –Joe

Also, I would love to have Yannick Ngakoue, but in reality, he is looking for 16 to 20 million a year. How do we afford that this year and actually field a 53 man roster? Who said pay him that this year? He wants a new deal now; that doesn’t mean a giant pile of guaranteed money in 2019. –Joe we may be able to afford him after dropping someone next year, but, he wants his money now. Wait till next year and he will be a FA. You aren’t getting a deal on this guy right now, and actually expecting him to show up.

Check out sportrac. Very useful tool when discussing specific players and how they will be moved. I will admit, if we decide to buy now for future teams, then we can do something, but I don’t see that being how Arians works.

You wasted your time writing that. Joes still don’t understand a 3-4 defense when crying about a pass rush they don’t do their research

Trying to get run from the site today? Joe has talked with folks who know a helluva lot more about football than Joe ever will — former NFL defensive coaches and suits — who have the exact same worries about the Bucs pass rush.

Feel free to continue to be an @ss, but remember: Joe can be an even bigger @ss.

While the Glazers may supposedly be fine with delegating out the responsibilities for the GMs/Coach, there is still massive confusion about who is pulling the trigger.

From all I can gather this is the picture I see being painted:

1. Lovie Smith was basically given Bill Bellicheck like leeway to run the team/control personnel/etc. He is the one who hired Licht ( I think people forget this ). Lovie leaned on Licht and his staff for evaluating the offensive talent and upgrading that unit via the draft, but he 100% controlled the defensive strategy/personnel plan which is where the biggest blunders occured (jettison Revis because not a scheme fit, bring in guy slike Ghost / Verner/etc).

2. After Lovie is ousted the Glazers wanted to keep Licht because they were pretty happy with those 2014-2015 drafts and eye for undrafted FA pickups. Promote Koetter after franchise sets records on offense.

But here is where the disconnect begins. Licht’s staff / personnel seems more in charge of the draft and FA, but we start seeing a bunch of round peg / square hole between the scouting staff / coaching staff… i.e.:

A. Drafting multiple press corners but playing soft off coverage (VHIII/Smith and eventually Carlton Davis) because Mike Smith loved Brent Grimes basically
B. Drafting a designated 4-3 pass rusher or 3-4 OLB/pass rusher, and then trying to make him into some hulked out 4-3 DE and taking away what he’s good at (Noah Spence project)
C. Moving our offensive lineman all over the formation instead of having an actual developmental plan that makes sense for establishing guys like Ali Marpet. Moving Benecoch to OG when he is an OT. etc.
D. Drafting a RB super early (might as well have been a R1 pick) and doing absolutely nothing to make his life easy or get his confidence going or designing plays that play to his strengths.

3. And now here we are with Bruce Arians seemingly put back into the Bill Bellicheck power roll where he / his staff are dictating the draft & FA and just using Licht as a scout reporter basically.

Because of this it’s always been hard to put a finger of blame squarely on Licht.. if he is NOT running the drafts / FA and is just a lapdog scout, that’s an issue with our organizational structure and transparency more than anything.

i.e. If BA said we are going to take White and go after corners in rounds 2/3 then how can we blame Licht for not addressing the trenches?

The issue is this organization has been run like a desperate short sited please-just-be-a-decent-team-this-year vision, without clear structure at the top, vs an organization that puts a great football brain in charge and letting them build the right way.

I think that’s what they tried to do with Mark Dominik but he just happened to suck real bad.

Great podcast Ira. Loved hearing BA answer several hard-hitting questions. He comes across to me as El Jefe … no doubt who’s in charge. We’ve been missing that for far too long. BA has a well-thought-out strategy to FIX THE BUCS & it’s unfolding right before our eyes. Long-suffering Bucs fans have to love that.

Your discussion about the Secondary that followed was particularly interesting I thought. Personally don’t think there’s any way to tell at this point who’ll be the starting outside corners. They’re ALL young, and It’ll depend on who steps up when the pads get put on. If Carlton Davis is healthy, I would think that he’ll have a leg up on the others. Sean Murphy-Bunting seems like the real deal at this point, but Jamel Dean might give him a great run for his money for a starting gig. And I think a lot of folks will be surprised by Ryan Smith this year. So that’s all great IMO … LOTS of competition.

The Safety group is in much the same situation I think … young with LOTS of talent, but very inexperienced. So once again it’ll all depend on who steps up when the pads come on. Sounds like Mike Edwards is impressing folks & that’s great. Whitehead has a fairly decent 2018 I thought so he’ll be in the mix, as will Evans if his foot comes around in time. One name don’t hear very often though is Kentrell Brice, yet he’s the most experienced of the group … that experience might count for something in Todd Bowles’ eyes. Bucannon I think will get a LOT of field time this year, much of it as a 5th or 6th DB. No idea where all that leaves MJ Stewart, but he may very well have trouble even making this team.

Great interview, question why is the sound so horrible when Steve isn’t around, are you recording in a tunnel, back of a motorcycle, off of a a flip phone? It’s really hard to listen to. Steve lend them your equipment or have Zach in charge of audio. Jiminy Christmas it’s like me asking my grandma to do a podcast.

That’s what y’all seem to not get. Everyone knows Yannick wants to get paid handsomely. That doesn’t mean it has to be the Bucs. I’m perfectly fine leasing him if only for a year. Those type of chess quantum leap you into the Super Bowl. The eagles loaded up two offseason ago,Super Bowl. The rams loaded up last offseason,Super Bowl.

Holding Leftwich accountable for the reason the Cards decided to hire a coach that couldn’t hold down a college job and move on from Rosen is kind of like not holding Koetter accountable for the state of the Bucs defense last season…